D’Arenberg’s (tastings) brilliantly eccentric, colourfully-shirted winemaker/proprietor Chester Osborn has recently been cast as the Mad Hatter, and the cap seems to fit rather well.

His latest project is a kind of Rubik’s Cube-like, four-storey tall, glass-and-mirror building recently erected among the D’Arenberg vines. The D’Arenberg Cube apparently cost millions and is sure to win some architectural award for its highly original and strangely-shaped conception.

Experts have predicted it will have a big impact on visitor numbers to McLaren Vale, although parallels some have drawn with Hobart’s Mona art gallery might be exaggerated. Who knows?

The building will eventually house a tasting room, up-market restaurant and bars. A virtual reality experience is also on the plans.

The best article I’ve seen on the Cube is by my colleague Tony Love in the New Adelaide magazine, Feb-April 2017. Its cover features a great shot of Chester dressed as a wine-spilling Mad Hatter with the Cube in the background. Here’s the link.

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About the authorHuon Hooke

Huon Hooke is a leading Australian wine expert, critic and show judge, best known for his weekly columns in Sydney Morning Herald Good Food, and is contributing editor, tasting panel member and columnist at Gourmet Traveller WINE Magazine.